Latest reviews from Woodinville

“Great wide open space in an office park in Woodinville surrounded by wineries. Forget the wineries, go here. Core beers are very well done (nothing worth going out of your way for, but best if you're nearby) and the barrel-aged stuff they're messing around with is already excellent even though it's clear they're still finding their barrel aged voice. One to keep an eye on but already a great place.“

WestCoastHawkeye 1021 days ago

“Swung by on a Monday after work. Three very good beers on the flight, but the Belgian was just kind of weird. Don't really know how to rate in light of that but might be dinging them a little bit more than usual for the one I just didn't like. Nice, spacious, crowd of what seemed to be regulars.“

WestCoastHawkeye 1066 days ago

“Stopped by on a Thursday after work. I was the only one there and that's a shame because they do some good Germanic beer here. Dunkelweizen was spot-on, a well-done barrel-aged doppelbock, great schwarzbier - lots of flavor in these. Converted warehouse with a little beer garden as well. Worth a visit.“

WestCoastHawkeye 1106 days ago

“Great atmosphere with really good beer. I drink a lot of blondes and they have the best one I have ever had. I highly recommend you stop by this brewery for a taste.“

CiderRater73 1673 days ago

“Nice little place, saw it from 1st Avenue, in between Von’s 1000 Spirits and Pike Brewing Co., very good selection for a cidery, will have to try on our next visit.“

azzurro 1818 days ago

“Recently took over the old Brickyard Brewing space, so it's a tiny bit out of the way when doing the Woodinville crawl, but definitely worth a stop. About 8 house beers on tap, as well as a few local guest taps from other super local breweries and a couple ciders. Greeted by the owner and head brewer himself behind the bar when we arrived. Very nice guy, friendly service and great conversation about brewing and such. Family friendly place. Small taproom, but comfortable. They offer pizza and a couple of other items as far as food goes. Prices are very fair. All the house beers are offered in 16 oz crowlers to go, which is awesome. I really wish more places offered tallboys to go. Overall a good experience here for my first visit, and definitely plan to go back.“

andrewje41 2176 days ago

“This place is awesome. Pretty small, tucked into a industrial space. Great service. Small, but very good pizzas. More importantly, the beer is great. Had about 12 beers on tap. Fun vibe too, easygoing. Lots of TVs.“

douglas88 2363 days ago

“The wait is finally over for these guys to open up in this location! It really didn't take long. Sooner than I expected actually. I'm really glad I like this place so much, because it is now officially the closest brewpub to my work. With 20 taps that are constantly changing, it's looking like it will be a regular stop for me. A bit of a tucked away location, in a business park on a side street. They took over the old Twelve Bar Brews spot, and totally made the place their own. Really easy to get to from the River trail as well. Small, comfortable taproom that seats about 40 at most. Excellent beers on tap of their own, as well as a featured brewer for brewers night on occasion. I always enjoyed Crucible's beers, but their Everett location isn't super convenient for me to get to. Excellent staff here, very friendly, and will pour you a good beer and have great conversation about anything from beer, to their Cards Against Humanity tournaments they have there. A couple TV's. No food, but they were talking about potential food trucks for the near future. Seemed a little bit on the pricey side for pints when I've gone in, but I can live with that. I think this is an excellent addition to the already busy Woodinville beer scene. Highly recommend a stop here if you are in the area. Maybe I'll see you there, if I'm getting off work.“

andrewje41 2457 days ago

“Visited shortly after they first opened, and had a great experience, but waiting a little while for them to get broken in before adding a review. Located in a business park area that you aren’t quite sure if you took a wrong turn or not when arriving. The brewery really stands out once you see it though. Across the street from the Des Voigne Wines and Brewery. Might as well hit both! Very modern feel here. Over a dozen beers on tap, all visible on the digital menu. Good pizza focused food menu, though there are other options as well. Prompt and friendly staff every time. Comfortable place, and a very nice outdoor patio out front. Good beer, good food. Fun place to grab a beer and watch the game.“

andrewje41 2666 days ago

“I’ve seen this place evolve over the years. Space is much bigger these days. Comfortable taproom, dog and kid friendly. A dozen beers on tap, and small pours offered. Good location, with multiple breweries just minutes away. Food trucks, or bring your own food. They are big on their popcorn machine here, and I don’t think beer and popcorn should be mixed. This place just smells like butter all the time. My opinion though. They always have fun beers on, and they are always changing. This will always be a potential stop for me, since I work in the area, and with the multiple other offerings nearby. They have the best hours out of all of them too, so if you are out crawling on a Monday, this will likely be your only option. Always a fun stop.“

andrewje41 2722 days ago

“Vague sailor theme here, though nothing beyond the basic cliche stuff. More or less empty on a Friday night (while Triplehorn across the street was going nicely), save for a few at the bar. On tap were 3 infected beers and a really boring IPA. So the brewing isn’t up to par, and neither is the vibe. I guess if you’re a filthy ticker, you’ll still stop here.“

Oakes 2788 days ago

“Big brewery, very industrial, lots of open space. The beers are ok, but there are a lot of them. Very localsy crowd. OK stop.“

Oakes 2788 days ago

“In the old Blue Lightning location, across the street from Triplehorn and close to Locust and Dirty Bucket. It’s a large taproom that is rather retro and dimly lit. Feels like a quaint, grungy rural pub. 5 beers on tap, available in a taster flight for cheap. Beers are nasty -- tons of off-flavours and infections. Avoid like the plague.“

mcberko 2790 days ago

“Charming, cozy little tasting room within a strip mall that includes a brewery, winery and distillery. Lots of different ciders on tap, though there are all rather sweet. 3 oz. samplers are available for each cider, for $2 or $3. Friendly service. If you’re in the area, this is a worthwhile stop on any brewery/cidery crawl.“

mcberko 2816 days ago

“A cool brewery in a large industrial spot. Did a good job making the inside feel cozy with a finished wood feel to the place. A number of TVs throughout the place but not particularly invasive. Service was good despite a large crowd. They had around 12 beers on tap with samplers available. Not food on site but they do have food trucks. Prices were good. A decent spot.“

deyholla 2847 days ago

“These guys have been in business more or less continuously under two different names. They stopped very briefly to change from Blue Lightning Brewing into Vessel, which is great news--they went from making perfectly awful beer to very decent stuff.

Oddly enough, pretty much all the details from BLBC still apply. They appear to have changed nothing about the taproom area:
1. Woodinville strip mall
2. It’s near the warehouse winery district
3. There are a couple other breweries and a cidery nearby, too
4. There’s a decent amount of parking
5. It’s very nicely furnished
6. Lots of nice TVs
7. Mostly showing the game
8. Friendly, well-caffeinated, bubbly staff
9. Lots of parlor games available downstairs
10. They share space with a winery, whose name they now also share

The menu is short here: A few sandwiches, a couple deep-friend things. Fair prices on ’em.

It feels like a goofy dive bar in some ways: "Oh, you’re ’Vessel virgins’? We need your names and we’ll ring a bell and tell everyone we’re taking your virginity." Where am I? Kent? Whatever. Thankfully, they didn’t actually do this, though they did yell across the room to ask us how our drinks were.

The staff here CLEARLY care a ton that you’re enjoying yourself, even if they are a little kooky. They check on everything, they’re super quick, super friendly. The chardonnay was thoroughly decent, no oak, light tree fruit flavors. The IPA was solid--no flaws, nice fresh clear flavors. Prices were good. I’d come back, which I was not expecting to say when I realized it was a formerly awful brewery with a new name. They’re good now! Check ’em out.“

after4ever 2889 days ago

“Located out in the middle of a deep industrial park seemingly in the middle of nowhere. Once you find the place, you discover a fairly expansive sports-bar themed, modern tasting room with plenty of seating. 8 beers on tap, available in taster sizes for $2 a piece. I was very impressed with the beer quality, with several standouts. Friendly, quick service. One of the stops in the area. Highly recommended.“

mcberko 2944 days ago

“Beautiful new place that is very sports bar oriented, with lots of TV screens. You can tell they poured some money into this place, as it’s modern and sleek. They had about 10 beers on tap, all available for tasters or flights. Reasonably priced. They also specialist in pizzas and related foods, including some veggie options. Beer quality was good, especially the IPAs. Definitely worth checking out.“

mcberko 2947 days ago

“The world needs a few thousand more neighborhood breweries, right? I’m not even kidding around--I sincerely believe that bringing brewing back down to the neighborhood and town level will make life better in many little ways. These guys have made a serious commitment to investing in brewing for the future of Woodinville. This place is massive, and impeccably equipped.

You’re in the burbs, in strip mall and office park land for miles in every direction. Woodinville wine country is not far from here, but this just feels like an endless labyrinth of 4-lane roads and newer construction. Not sure if this space was something before, but they’ve clearly made the most of it as a brewery space. Once you navigate the roads, there’s plenty of parking.

There are big roll-up doors, with a bit of patio seating next to the parking lot. Inside, there are several picnic tables, highboys, and a long bar fronted with stool after stool. There are HUGE flatscreens as well as merely enormous flatscreens everywhere, all tuned to the game. We didn’t peek into the brewhouse, which must be behind the bar, but you can clearly see into a good-sized kitchen.

The tables have pipeworks for legs, and the name of the brewery branded (quite literally) into the wood tabletop under a layer of shellac. None of this is cheap. You walk down the hall to the loos and there are huge long runs of custom wallpaper with the name of the brewery shown in a wide variety of logos and fonts. Custom wallpaper? Seriously? Yep. Custom wallpaper. Lots of breweries are bootstrapping it, trying to get their hands on wooden barrels and whatnot, and here we see custom wallpaper all the way down the hall and into the bathroom--at least the men’s room. There was also a big wall of 3-foot stone tiles, but that might have been the landlord’s doing, not sure.

The kitchen was similarly highly-equipped. There’s a huge pizza oven, taller than anybody walking around in the building. The menu explains that their pizzas and "folds (similar to a calzone, I think) are "flash-cooked" in the pizza oven, but I watched them put pizzas in there on the oven deck and leave them for a couple minutes. If you get a pizza oven as hot as the typical pizza oven, you’re turning them every few seconds so they don’t scorch--and I saw a couple pizzas come out with moisture still shining on crusts and toppings, so maybe they are still breaking in the oven, and don’t fully crank it yet? I dunno. I’ve never been a chef, to say the least. They also had a mammoth Hobart mixer for their pretzel dough (their pretzels sounded awesome, and probably are, as they were sold out) and pizza dough, as well as a good-sized combi oven. It’s hard to imagine they aren’t running a brewhouse of comparable proportions, which is an even more expensive proposition than setting up a kitchen like this.

We had the pale and an IPA ("Autonomous"), which were both solid, no flaws, but a bit out of balance with esters and spicy notes poking through unexpectedly. There’s a lot of potential here, and they certainly do not want for materials in any way. It would be interesting to learn more about their background and to watch where they go from here.“

after4ever 2987 days ago

“Visited on my on foot Woodinville crawl. Stop #3. Cool layout here, and great location, considering I’m in the middle of a walking tour. Small front taproot like seating area with an impressive vintage can collection assumed to be owned by the brewer, who happens to be running the taproom. Cafeteria like seating in the back area. Crowlers and growlers for a good price. 8 beers on tap. Bottles as well, including some that I’m sure you will only find here. Fun place, and an honest brewer to talk with. I enjoy this place and their beer more than ever right now.“

andrewje41 3165 days ago

“A pretty cool stop along my daily commute. Very cool place, nice interior. Part of the group that brings us Purple, and Lot No. 3. A handful of taps that were local brews, but not the same ones you will find everywhere else. Handful of bottles as well, though this place is definitely centered around their specialty cocktails. If I drank cocktails, I would start here. The combinations are fun. Overall a good stop. A little pricey. Good food, good beers. Nice place.“

andrewje41 3170 days ago

“Very nice brand new brewery to add to Woodinville’s already impressive collection. I believe that is number 7 to open, and a great location here, down in wine country. Located in a business park. Very fresh, clean, modern brewery setup with 5 taps at the moment. Since they just opened up, I’m sure they are still getting things going. Growler fills, which is nice, though they would not fill my half growler for me, which was a bummer. Very nice beer, and overall a good experience here. I work a couple blocks away, so I’ll be back for sure. I’ll update this when they grow (which I expect to happen quick)“

andrewje41 3443 days ago

“In an industrial complex, this large warehouse is actually quite large, spacious and comfortable. Lots of locals and dogs. Service was great, obviously know and care about beer. Large selection with one guest cider. Price was pretty good for what you get, the downfall is the beer which is pretty mediocre at best.“

Ferris 3516 days ago

“All the Haggen stores tend to be very similar in what they offer and even the shop layout is similar; they may have as lightly different beer selection though. I usually visit them in the late night, and, maybe also because they have few customers, the service has been very helpful. The selection is pretty good to spot some nice local beer, and the prices are good too, with an extra 10% discount if you buy 6 bottles. They also carry 3 meads from Sky River.“

fiulijn 3644 days ago

“The best brewery on 144th Ave., again in an industrial park at the top of the hill. A big expansive tasting room with 9 house beers on tap. You can taste them all for just over $10 (a steal!). Beer quality is average, with a few standouts. Big patio area which was quiet when we visited due to people being inundated by the football game going on. Worth a stop when in the area.“

mcberko 3651 days ago

“Cool little place in a strip mall within an industrial area. The beer quality, however, is quite terrible, with almost all the draught beers having some sort of vegetal notes or other off-flavours. Reasonably priced and the service is friendly, but I can’t really recommend the place due to the beer quality.“

mcberko 3651 days ago

“Minimalist operation, I like the place, maybe a dozen seats inside that double when the patio is open. The beers are really not impressive. No wifi. Beer sampler poured without info about what you are drinking. The beers are not bad, but they are very basic. It’s the kind of place where you spend some time with your friends and don’t care about the beer.“

fiulijn 3660 days ago

“This place is bigger than your usual taproom, with more than 70 seats and patio; it’s inside a large warehouse building. Pleasant environment, local happy people, laughters… They have a foodtruck on Fri-Sat-Sun. Wifi available. They have screens for the games. They have about 10 tap beers, they are ok, but not impressive. I would still spend some time here with friends.“

fiulijn 3660 days ago

“Definitely not a place to go when on a budget if you intend to try lots of things. It’s not that their prices are really unreasonable, it’s just that they tend to focus on things that are more on the indulgent side. They really do make an effort to get out and get their hands on nice bottles and they compliment those with high-quality stuff from the kitchen. It’s not a place to come for a sparklingly creative meal, but what they do, they do very well. It’s a little bit hard to find if you don’t know the area. Not exactly a maze, but there are a lot of zig-zagging roads through here, sweeping corners, and roundabouts until you hit the new strip mall that Purple calls home. There’s parking, though, and once you’re inside it’s quite nice. Rough wood construction, heavy iron tables and chairs, heavy iron napkin rings, heavy iron bread plates, heavy iron crackers baskets--you get the idea. Even the menus are sturdy, bound in heavy chipboard. If you’re willing enough to suspend disbelief, you might almost feel like Beowulf will be slaying Grendel any minute now. The people are super nice. Cheerful, and they know their menu and their approach cold. They put in a complete effort even though we sat upstairs (where no one else was yet) and didn’t order much. Really a thoroughly well-tuned floor staff. And the kitchen staff is good too. We focused on snacks for the most part, some of us ordering cheese plates, others caramels, and I think maybe one prepared dish. The cheeses are well selected here, and they present well--on a nice wooden cutting board with fig jam and green apples complimentary. There are also nice sturdy crackers in the aforementioned woven iron basket. Yeah--woven iron basket. Kinda cool. Must get tiring slogging up and down those stairs with such heavy serving ware, but I guess they know what they’re in for. I ordered a flight of "burly" reds, which turned out to mean very acidic, tannic, peppery reds. Interesting stuff from hot dry Mediterranean and South American regions. Not stuff I’d necessarily order again, but my curiosity was piqued and then satisfied. And they come out in a little caddy for four miniature glasses, made of--wait for it--iron. You get a card on nice card stock tucked in, telling you which is which. They had me tasting from most powerful wine to least, which struck me as odd, but it seemed to work well enough. All in all, this place definitely focuses on the wine, even including a few pages in the wine book devoted specifically to Woodinville. Everything else around the wine is well considered and worth enjoying, but you come here primarily when you’re in the mood for a good glass. It delivers.“

after4ever 3819 days ago

“This is a small and fairly new nanobrewery. Yes, that means it’s smaller than a microbrewery, and that’s an important distinction. First, the owner and head brewer holds down a full-time job. So this place is only open Fridays and Saturdays. And that’s actually pretty cool. Cool that it’s gotten a little toehold and every month’s revenue isn’t live or die. Second, the operation really is tiny. You’re up in the hills of Woodinville, and you’re in a little strip mallish/light industrial space that shares the parking lot with a "gourmet burger joint." This place doesn’t have food, so maybe there’s a potential for combined errands there. Third, the operation really is tiny. There are tidy, attractive tables and chairs, all matching, lined up neatly inside and out. Outside is just a chunk of parking lot on the other side of a roll-up garage door, but they have heaters out there and they keep an eye on you, and it’s actually fairly quiet. Seats about 25-30. Fourth--OK, I’ll quit saying it. You can clearly see the brewhouse from the taproom, and they brew in what’s essentially a very well-made standard homebrew setup. That means they can only fill corne kegs (5-gallon kegs, like you’d see under a soda fountain). That’s good and bad. They run out of stuff a lot, but it also means they probably might have interesting replacements rolling on next on a regular basis, depending on how often they can get back and brew. There was a decent steady stream of customers rolling in on a Saturday afternoon, so whether there’s much time in the day to brew is probably an open question. Bottom line, the beers are solid enough, some are actually pretty decent. It’s worth the drive out this way to check them out.“

after4ever 4374 days ago

“There appears to be a rising tide of Nordic-themed breweries in the Puget Sound region. This is probably the fourth to open in the last couple years, and there were already a few local beers with Viking-ish names knocking around. This is neither here nor there, but just in case this trend in some ways becomes important, you may start tracking it now. What is here is a small light industrial space high in the hills of Woodinville east of 405. Head up 522 a ways and down past the body shops. When you get to the gaggle of wineries on your left, turn right. Triplehorn is a little oasis away from the tour buses and chronically overdressed wineauxs. There’s plenty of parking up here too. Inside you get 6 taps, a couple costco jars of pretzels and nuts, and some tables scattered around. This is a real working brewery, producing full-size kegs in full-size brewing equipment, but as of this writing their tap handles are not often seen down in town. That’s kinda too bad, because at least one of their beers was more than just a curiosity, it was easily worth the drive (the Fresh Hop Infused Landwink IPA). The vibe is very local, which is really cool in this case. There are multi-generational family outings, couples of all ages, even little kids running around over in the non-bar area. It’s pretty low-tech; you get one bathroom, a view into the brewhouse, and a couple flat screens. Other than that, not much is happening here. But the staff are nice and so are the patrons, and the beer is worth a curiosity-seeking trip for the beer lover at the very least.“

after4ever 4374 days ago

“We visited during the second week of it’s opening. Location is smack dab in the middle of the Woodinville warehouse district with plenty of parking and where winery tasting rooms are abundant. On the outside it is a converted manufacturing/multi-use space that on a good day will retract it’s sliding main door and reveal a very small tasting room that spills out onto the front patio. Seating capacity at most one would estimate to be around 25 and that would be very very tight. Upon entering there’s a short main counter with a few stools, directly behind which are 5 taps. Pretzels are available but more filling burgers etc are found in a restaurant just across the parking lot. They’re brewing on a 10 gallon Sabco and have a quaint working area in the back which visitors may roam about freely as of the time of this review. The owner is cordial, genuine, and really seems to enjoy his business. Beers as of the 2nd week of being open are decent, they utilize two strains of yeast which gives a bit more flexibility in their creative department. There may be future availability limitations based on their current brewing capacity and it would be best to procure their product at the taproom. Beer selection is basic as of now, they offer the standard lineup of Pale, Amber, IPA, and a very interesting Blonde along with rotating brewer selections. i’d be interested to see how far they’ll come in the coming year.“

22415brewery 4534 days ago

“There are four upscale Purple Cafe’s in the area; I haven’t been to the Seattle one yet, but we have a track record in Woodinville, Kirkland, and Bellevue. My wife doesn’t drink beer for medical (so she says) reasons, so we have a constant issue of finding good wine for her and good beer for me. Our current favorite compromise on the Eastside is Cafe Veloce, but if the monthly commission check is generous, then it’s off to Purple Cafe. This is a yuppie place, especially in Bellevue and Kirkland, with the Woodinville location serving a more refined and genteel group of baby boomers (like us). Obviously a great selection of wines at better (sometimes bargain) prices than many of the other wine bars in the area. They have some outstanding Washington wines that may be first (Efeste Final-Final $50) or second label wineries (Amavi cab from Walla Walla - $50). Let the servers guide you. But what about the beer? When they first opened their Woodinville store, we hounded them regularly to get some decent beer. They responded and now have a small selection that represents some of the best of breed. No drafts. Twelve bottled beers, but some good stuff: Speakeasy Untouchable, Houblon Chouffe, Snoqualmie Copperhead. No stouts, though. The outstanding thing about this place is that they will have perfect food to pair wtih the beers, and the bartender (and some of the servers) have been educated about what goes with what. Tonight at the Bellevue location, the wife had a risotto with chanterelle and marscarpone, and I had the duck special. A bit pricy (good luck getting out of there for less than $120 for two), but it’s nice to have some decent beer choices along with a great wine selection.Go to Costco and buy a gifit card for Purple Cafe for 25% off. And on Fri or Sat nights, have dinner at Purple Cafe, then walk over to Redhook for music and DoubleBlack stout.“

Packard 5426 days ago